Short hops and hard knocks with Red Sox beat writer Ian Browne.

Schillacked

What a stunner. Of all the things we expected today, Curt Schilling pitching like a fifth starter was last on the list.

With Schilling, there are a a few things you take for granted. One is that he won’t beat himself with poor location. Another is he’ll give you six or seven innings. A third is that on a big stage such as Opening Day, he will come through.

Well, Schilling went 0-for-3 in those usual gimme areas today. As he said after the game, his lack of command with the fastball was the culprit. Mike Lowell put it best when he said he would have bet his house that Schilling wouldn’t have walked in a run. Fortunately, Lowell was too busy playing in the game to place any such wagers, and his family will sleep well, and under a nice roof tonight.

As amped as everyone was for Opening Day — Dustin Pedroia showed his excitement by getting thrown about by a good 10 feet trying to stretch a single into a double — it really is a meaningless gauge on what will happen for the rest of the season.

Take last season. The Red Sox put on a virtual clinic in their Opener in Texas, basically playing a texbtbook game. They finished in third place. Take 2004. The Sox and Pedro Martinez took a beating in the opener in Baltimore. That team won the World Series.

It’s amazing how one bad inning can take the air out of a team. The Red Sox seemed so flat once the Royals rallied in the bottom of the fourth.

Wednesday night will be a much different atmosphere. You won’t have that Opening Day crowd. It will be just another April game. I’m intrigued to see if Josh Beckett can be as good during the season as he was during the spring. I think you’ve all heard me say I’m convinced Beckett is going to have a bust-out year. Let’s see if it really happens.

What struck me last night is that Schilling seemed mentally beaten in the first / second inning: he was grimacing, his shoulders looked slumped and he was shaking his head – not very much but it was noticable. One generally expects him, if he has a bad inning, to go back to the dugout reset himself and come out and deliver a 1-2-3. I wonder what went wrong. It was almost as though he was unwell.

Some days you have it, some days you don’t. Schilling did nip a few corners with some fast balls, and there were a few calls that didn’t do his way. However, velocity was generally upper 80’s, curve ball hung, splitter didn’t move, and he hasn’t mastered the change up. His whole motion slows down when he throws it and he doesn’t fool anyone. Outfielders were slipping, Lugo’s relays looked like my sister throwing, Tek was awful at the plate, and where’s Jacoby Ellsbury? Chalk it up to whatever you want, but the Sox weren’t ready to play yesterday. A team of that quality should never play that poorly. They got blown away by a mediocre pitcher.

Of all the things that should have happened, but didn’t yesterday, I worry about Schilling the least. He’ll be back.

Not willing to put it all on shills shoulders either. Where were the bats???? Nothing can pick up a pitcher like a run or two. Both sides of the aisle can take a bit of the knock! Lets hope it gets done tonight. Beckett does it tonight ‘no joshin’

Hi all,
Looks like our real Sox showed up today! JB will get his control dialed in, but if he can get outs without good control that is a good sign. And if Drew can make them pay for walking Papi and Manny, we got a lot to look forward to.

I watch almost every game through MLB when I can. The last two were broadcast with the Royals announcer team. As a Red Sox fan I can really appreciate a fair and balanced broadcast. They were fair with the Red Sox complimenting them as opposed to damning them. Two of the worst announcing teams in all of baseball (in my humble opinion) are of course the evil empire and the Mariners. Both teams find it difficult to say anything nice about a Sox player or the team in general. Always seem to put the Sox down. In any case a tip of the cap to the Royals announcers for a fair and balanced broadcast. Anyone else feel the same?

I am really looking forward to seeing Dice-K in a game that counts today. It should be interesting to see how he does in the cold as well. According to weather.com, it is 39 in KC, but feels like only 32. If he can succeed in a cold weather environment, one he has never had to deal with before, he should be good to go over the summer months.

You have got to be kidding me. The Yankees announcers tend to compliment the other team more than most announcers I’ve heard. And I’ve heard most because I had an entire summer of mlbtv last year. Michael Kay gets excited constantly, about anything, it’s really quite frustrating when you hear Tampa, Chicago (whitesox), Nationals and Royals announcers make an *** out of themselves in home team butt kissing.

Those, right there, are the four worst tandems in all of Baseball, either league. Boston and NY both seem to have decently objective announcers, and both have relapses at times, especially against each other.

I’ve got the gameday going. Nice.
But Lowell just led off with a double, and Tek and Coco are not hitting. In a game that could be close, don’t you think that maybe Tek could sacrifice Lowell to third and let Coco and Dustin try to bring him in? I mean, if you’re not hitting get a productive out. I’m aware that is Tito’s decision not Tek’s. But you can always work out of a slump when the bases are empty.

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